The battle for permission to celebrate worship without waiting for the end of May - as announced by the Prime Minister - is taking a legal turn. Friday, the Council of State must rule on applications for interim measures "freedom", filed by several associations and a political party, the Christian Democratic Party (PCD) chaired by Jean-Frédéric Poisson.
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"We consider, explains the latter, that the Prime Minister's decision to maintain since May 11 the ban on celebrating cults constitutes an infringement of fundamental freedoms and double discrimination as to the principle of freedom of worship. The first discrimination relates to the activity: one authorizes, for example, the resumption of the hairdressing salons but not that of the cults. Why would religious activity be more dangerous than that of a small business, with equal health precautions? The second discrimination is geographical: as soon as departments offer little risk of contamination, why can't the cult be restored in the green departments with the necessary measures? ”This political leader also recalls that freedom of worship is a “fundamental right” laid down in the Constitution and that he includes “freedom of conscience, the right of access to the place of worship and the right to celebrate for all cults ” . The Council of State, which has declared the request admissible, could give its opinion on Monday.
Legal ambiguity
Meanwhile, another legal argument in favor of a resumption of worship without delay was raised on Tuesday by this political party. According to him, the new decree of May 11 - published in the Official Journal - specifying the conditions for deconfinement in France contains a legal ambiguity: it would suggest that the authorization in principle to celebrate religious services has been implicitly restored. Article 27 of this decree provides that the prefects "may" prohibit worship (with the exception of burials always authorized for less than 20 people) for pandemic reasons.
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"This suggests, emphasizes Jean-Frédéric Poisson, that the general principle of prohibition on the whole territory no longer applies, since the prefectural authority can no longer prohibit religious offices except as a derogation and only if the health situation justifies it ” . The PCD goes so far as to affirm that the decree "now authorizes the holding of religious ceremonies in the departments where the prefects will not have prohibited them" because it notes that "freedom of worship becomes again the principle, and its prohibition, the exception " . It is "the only possible coherent interpretation" assures Jean-Frédéric Poisson. It remains to be seen whether the high administrative jurisdiction will follow it. It would be a famous opposite for the government, entangled in legal vagueness exposing the prefects to the risk of appeal in mass.
For its part, the Conference of Bishops of France - which publicly asked at the end of April for the resumption of worship on May 11 without however engaging in a legal process of this type - does not wish to speak on this case. Only the sanctuary of Lourdes, financially dry (8 million loss) announced on May 13 that it reopened on May 16, with masks but without mass.
